Grand Funeral Planned for Ayatollah Khamenei

The Iranian government is preparing a grand funeral ceremony for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which will be marked as a national holiday. National holidays will commence from 4 to 6 July. “The farewell ceremony and prayers for the body of the fallen leader will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 4 and 5 July, at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, and the burial will take place on Monday, 6 July, with Tehran province on holiday for these three days,” said IRGC commander Hassan Hassanzadeh, who is responsible for the ceremony. State media reported that Tehran will be on holiday on 4 and 5 July, while the entire nation will join on 6 July. Authorities in Tehran anticipate the presence of millions of people. The holy city of Qom in the north will also hold a tribute on 7 July. Ali Khamenei will be buried on 9 July in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, his birthplace. Both cities will also observe national holidays. Neighbouring Iraq has scheduled a ceremony for 8 July. Large photographs of Khamenei have been installed at the Grand Mosalla complex in Tehran as workers prepare for the massive funeral ceremony. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shia adherents, died at the age of 86 at his residence in central Tehran on 28 February, the first day of the war. His funeral will be open to the public. His body will lie in state at the Grand Mosalla complex, officially known as the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, in central Tehran, which is typically used for major Friday prayers, official ceremonies, and large religious gatherings. The bodies of Khamenei’s family members who died in the same attack will also lie in state there. Iranian officials estimate the ceremony will be attended by 15 to 20 million mourners, making it the largest state funeral in the Shia nation’s history. Workers were seen repainting the area, with a heavy police presence visible around the site. State television footage showed workers welding metal structures, with several cranes lifting construction materials around the complex. AFP journalists in Tehran reported that several lanes on major city roads have been closed, worsening the already heavy traffic. After the ceremony in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq before being buried in his birthplace. It remains unknown whether Mojtaba Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran and the late Khamenei’s son, will attend. Mojtaba, who was injured in the US-Israeli attack, has not appeared in public since his appointment.